Zimbabwe's Diet

Zimbabwe, facing a severe food shortage in 2004, considered an unlikely program to bring rich foreign visitors to the country, according to a government announcement.

The information minister proposed an "obesity tourism strategy," in which overweight visitors (especially Americans) would be encouraged to "vacation" in Zimbabwe and "provide labor for [government-confiscated] farms in the hope of shedding weight."

Americans, the proposal noted, spend $6 billion a year on "useless" dieting aids and could be encouraged to work off pounds and then flaunt "their slim bodies on a sun-downer cruise on the Zambezi [River]."